The Angel and the Angelus
by KattyKake
Summary: How Kratos met Anna and fell in love with her and how Lloyd grew up.
1. The Angelus Project

Kratos's red-brown eyes bore into the town of Luin. With one hand on his sword, and dressed in deep purple garments, he looked majestic and knightly as he stood on that hill watching Luin. He scanned the area mechanically, looking for signs of danger, or more specifically the Renegades, as he was warned.

Then he sighed in frustration at the task, which brought him to Luin. It was similar, very similar, to his usual duty: guarding the Chosen. But this time was different. These girls were potential subjects for the Angelus Project and Kratos was to stop the Renegades from killing them and to safely bring them to Asgard, where the Desians were then to bring them all to Kvar a few weeks after they arrived. Kratos hated being around everything that reminded him of his lost humanity, but he also hated being up in Welgaia with Mithos. Those wasted and lifeless hours spent in Welgaia taunted him and made him long even more for humanity. Yet, as he recalled his discussion with Mithos and Yuan, he knew then and even more certainly now that he didn't want this task.

He knew that something was different or wrong, because Mithos never called them to talk to him anymore, unless it was related to Martel and the Chosen. And he knew that it wasn't. He walked up those corridors hesitantly, wondering what newfound madness could have found its way into Mithos's brain. Apparently Yuan had the same thoughts, because he collided into Kratos with a worried look etched in his face.

Yuan looked up hazily, "Hmm? Oh, hello Kratos." Kratos grumbled in reply and they both kept walking towards Mithos, who soon welcomed both as warmly as his cold eyes would allow. Creases of worry etched even deeper into Yuan's dark face.

"Kratos." He nodded towards Kratos, "Yuan," he then nodded towards Yuan. Kratos and Yuan glanced at each other.

"You are probably wondering why I have called you." He paced around his seat. "Kvar is in the midst of developing the Angelus Project, an exsphere that seems to possess powers that equal and even surpass our own Cruxis crystals." He looked greedily at them both. "We are not yet sure exactly what types of powers this exsphere might possess, but we have found several subjects that match the mana signature that the exsphere requires for growth. Unfortunately, the Renegades have by town killed off most of these subjects, the strongest ones." Mithos looked bitterly disappointed.

"They have been moving with unprecedented speed. They've been attacking these subjects even before I was informed of the Angelus Project. I'll have to have a talk with Kvar and see who he's been talking to. But anyways, I have a job for you. I need you, Kratos, to safely escort these women to Asgard, where Kvar will take them. I trust you to guard them well far more than Kvar and his lackeys." Mithos scoffed.

Kratos frowned. "Women?" Yuan smirked at Kratos and Kratos glared back, but soon kept his gaze at Mithos who answered.

"Yes. It's very strange but the only people who matched the required mana signature were all women. I suppose that this experiment is much like that of the Chosen. Basically all of the Chosen were women, were they not?" said Mithos. Reflecting back on it, it was true. Kratos remembered that all of the Chosen were women. It was indeed strange, but he always assumed that it was so because they were meant to be Martel's vessels. "So you will do it?" said Mithos eagerly.

Kratos glared, "Why can't Yuan do it?"and Mithos laughed and replied instantly.

"For the same reason he never guards the Chosen. He is a half-elf. No one would trust him, Kratos, which is why you must do it, because you're human" said Mithos.

"So why is Yuan even here?"

Yuan answered immediately, "I've been holding off the Renegades who are attacking Luin. Soon the defenses will fall. I am very close to catching the leader of the Renegades." Mithos seemed satisfied.

"When you have time, I need you to talk to Kvar and find out who he has told about the project. Kratos, you will check on Kvar when he has made progress in the experiment and report to me." Mithos shot a look to Yuan.

"The Renegades will know you by then. There would be too much trailing you and your identity." Mithos looked hesitant.

Yuan answered a bit too cheerfully, "That's all fine with me. Besides the women seem to like Kratos more anyways" Yuan taunted. Kratos scoffed at him but felt heat rise up in his cheeks.

Mithos replied, "They do, though, don't they?"

Kratos was determined, however, not to accept the mission. He started to protest, but Mithos gave him that pleading look of desperation. It was a full minute before Kratos sighed in resignation and Mithos looked cheerful once more.

"Then it's decided. Kratos will guard and safely escort them to Asgard."


	2. Luin

It was night when Kratos finally entered Luin. The Renegades were everywhere, still trying to penetrate the city, and the death tolls were definitely rising. The citizens of Luin seemed to know who was being targeted and tried desperately to defend whoever was most often attacked. Not all of the subjects however were often attacked.

The Renegades' list of subjects was incomplete and inaccurate but nevertheless dangerous. Kratos strolled on through the pitch black of the night, and the town was eerily silent, a frightened sort of silence. Despite Yuan's protection, the Renegades threatened to attack anyone who tried to leave the city or enter the city. And they often succeeded. One of the subjects, along with her entire family was killed trying. After that no one tried to leave.

Kratos walked into the inn, the only inn in Luin, and the man at the register, surprised to see him, nearly jumped back in fear. The wooden walls creaked as if complaining about their age, and the dimly lit lights gave the place a homely sort of quaintness. Kratos, covered with mud and dirt and scratches from fighting the Renegades must have looked frightful. The man, however, still looked suspicious, surprised that Kratos could have even entered the heavily guarded town. As Kratos reached the reception desk, the man stuttered, "You're not...a Desian, are you?" Fear pervaded his eyes but quickly diminished when Kratos curtly shook his head. "Oh, good! I didn't think so because you look human, but...how on earth did you get into this town?" He nearly shouted.

Kratos only grunted and said a bit sharply, "The only way one could, of course. I fought them. I'd like a room now." The man looked offended and grumbled as he handed Kratos a key to his room. After Kratos paid the man a few gald and walked to his room. He spent the night sleepless as usual, and climbed to the roof to look at the stars once more, lying down. He sighed to himself as he relaxed and thought, even if everything around him kept changing, his friends, the world and even himself, at least he knew that the stars would never change.

He heard a small noise and awakened to his senses, he sat up and jerked his head to look to the right. He saw a flash of piercing green light in the distance and then heard a crash. Then he heard the sound of scuffling footsteps and some cussing. He ignored the disturbance and turned back to his stars. It was probably someone who wasn't expecting company on that rooftop. There was a few more moments of relaxation before he was disturbed once more. Kratos suddenly heard agile footsteps against the soft dirt and felt a great weight on top of him. Surprised, he opened his eyes to find a massive green and white protozoan pinning him with its paws. The dog-like creatures howled in delight with its face inches from Kratos's. It then proceeded to lick Kratos relentlessly until Kratos chuckled and said softly, "Okay, okay! Down, Noishe." Kratos again saw that flash of green and felt uneasy that someone was watching him. "Let's go Noishe." he said quickly and led the massive protozoan back into his room, laughing along the way as Noishe attempted to play with him.

-0o0-

Kratos was down for breakfast early in the morning, much earlier apparently than most of the inn's inhabitants. Most of everyone else was sleeping, and even the innkeeper was sleeping, but Kratos couldn't spend anymore time sitting in his room. He needed to get this job done as soon as possible. He entered the room, which he thought was the dining room but was surprised to see the kitchen. Amidst the pots, the pans and the steam, he saw a woman with piercing green eyes frowning at him with a spatula in her hand. Her brown hair was in a messy array but it seemed to fit her thin frame and her heart-shaped face. She looked nervous and instantly held the spatula up in self defense as if it were a weapon. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" She said determinedly. "Are...are you a Desian? You're definitely not from Luin." She scanned him with her piercing eyes while he scanned her as well, noticing the cuts on her arm and making the connection with her flashing green eyes. He felt angry at her incompetence.

In a bored, half-annoyed, voice he answered, "No. I'm looking for the kitchen. And if I were a Desian, I certainly wouldn't be repelled by a spatula or intimidated by a nosy woman who spends her night spying on people on rooftops and then falling off." She blushed, looking at her cuts and then looked back at Kratos in protest.

"I wasn't spying on you!"She said angrily. "I was there first. Besides what were you even doing there?" She put the spatula down and placed her hands on her hips, head held up high proudly.

"What were doing there?" Kratos retaliated at her.

"I asked first."

"I don't care." He grumbled as Noishe ran past him at the speed of light and jumped on top of the woman who looked surprised but laughed as Noished licked her face eager for food. Shifting off of the woman, Noishe sat and wagged his tail happily at the woman. She threw some scraps to him and petted him gently.

"Hahaha! You're a strange-looking dog. What's your name, boy?" She cooed at him. Noishe barked happily at her and licked her again, prancing around her.

"It's Noishe." He said suddenly, causing the woman to look up at him and remember he was there. Then he stared at her and rolling his eyes, he said gently, "Well, if you're going to spy on me, you might as well spy well enough to remember his name. I'm sorry for interrupting you. I'll be leaving now" He said shortly, forgetting his anger and leaving the woman quite confused. As he left, he felt somewhat troubled by the fact that he did not know her name and almost turned back to ask her, but thought better of it. However, he was shortly stopped but the sound of her voice.

"Anna." Almost reading his mind, she blurted out her own name. Then she asked curiously, "Anna Irving. Who are you?"

"Kratos, I am Kratos Aurion."


	3. Angelus Subjects

Not many people filed into the inn. A few stragglers or travelers that were trapped in Luin stayed at the inn, or maybe some families who were native to Luin stayed there, but mostly the inn was empty. Kratos ate his breakfast quickly in silence and left. Kratos heard from the other guests that Luin was to hold a town assembly to decide what to do about the Renegades and that everyone, even all of the non-native travelers were to come. And he certainly intended to go.

It was almost noon when he decided to go back to the inn, where the town's official meetings were held now that the townhouse had been virtually destroyed by Renegades parading as Desians. With Noishe at his side, he walked into the inn to find the meeting about to start. At the sight of Kratos, most of everyone's mouth fell open in shock at the newcomer, but he ignored it and took a seat far, far away from Anna, who Kratos tried to avoid. They'd had way too much contact with each other by now, and he was eager to avoid the smile he felt rising up in him as he watched her play with Noishe. After this meeting, he didn't intend to ever see her again.

"Quiet, everyone, quiet!" shouted the mayor of Luin. Everyone stopped to stare at him. "As you all know, Desians have been relentless, trying to capture people to take to...you-know-where. We don't know why exactly, but they have been targeting only certain people: Deanna Wing, Cacey Monahan, and Tori Novak."

Kratos then stood up and addressed the crowd. Many stared overtly and perplexedly at him, but he continued to say gravely, "There are others. My name is Kratos Aurion and I am a mercenary. On my way to this town I intercepted this list of women from a group of Desians who tried to attack me. From what I saw on this list, these women have been chosen to take part in the Desians' experiments. Naturally I came here to Luin to offer my services to protect these women and escort them to the sanctuary in Asgard. As many of you have heard, Asgard has repelled Desian attacks for months now. This may be their only chance. The rest of these women include," Kratos held up his list and read the names that were not yet called, "Rani Jansen, Odelia Whithers, Milena Solange, Hera Mayberry, and Anna..." He paused momentarily as a feeling in him seemed to drop with dread, and scolded himself for not looking at the list beforehand to brace him for the shock, "Anna Irving." His eyes met with Anna's green ones, which were filled with shock, fear and a wild sort of self-denial.

-0o0-

Anna was furious. At the meeting, it was decided that she and the other seven women were to be "guarded" by Kratos and escorted to Asgard. After paying Kratos, about a month's worth of potential sustenance for the whole town, the tension during the meeting immediately diffused and everyone trusted Kratos without a word. One man and one dog to protect all eight of them? It was ridiculous and unneeded. Anna was perfectly content in Luin, and she hadn't even been attacked yet. What would her ill mother and fragile brother do without her? She provided for a place to stay and for their meals by working two jobs full-time at the inn, and even then, the innkeeper proved cruelly stingy regarding their portions. Did Kratos even know about this experiment certainly? Did he even know that by saving her, he sentenced her family to morbid poverty and death? A self-absorbed, arrogant mercenary like him wouldn't care about anything as long as the job was done.

Still, she remembered that look in his eyes when he read her name and couldn't help feeling pleased. It was hard to get any emotion out of Kratos Aurion and for some reason, she felt victorious to see the shock in his eyes, to shove the fact that he didn't know as much as he thought he did into his face. She remembered his expression. It was shock, she agreed, but it was touched by a gentle sorrow as well. She growled to herself, cursing her temporary relapse. All she wanted to do right now was hate him and to plan her way out of this. She wasn't going. That much she knew, because she couldn't. Her thoughts were interrupted by Kratos, who grabbed her wrist as she tried to leave. Her eyes bubbled with anger and hatred at his selfishness, but he met her eyes unflinchingly with his own icy stare.

"What do you want from me now? What other part of my life could you possibly ruin?" She spat at him, on the verge of tears.

"Ruin? How could I ruin your life by saving it?"He said confused.

"You don't have the right to know, Kratos Aurion!"Anna shouted. "Now let me go, you arrogant meathead! Get this through your thick skull. I refuse to go!" Crying now and feeling as her family was already dead, Anna tried to wrench her wrist from Kratos's firm grip and run away but failed.

"You cannot leave. If you leave you run the risk of Desians killing not only you but also targeting your family." Kratos said calmly. "I know what you are going to do. You have nowhere to run. You are going away to Asgard and you are staying here in a room with the other seven girls to make sure none of you leave." He said this sternly, but Anna was desperate.

"You don't get it, do you?" Anna nearly screamed but refused to explain to him as he half dragged her into a room and locked her in where she sat sobbing. Anna was faintly aware of the rest of the girls looking at her, but she didn't care. But she listened in on their whispers and gossiping.

Sometimes she caught phrases like, "We're sort of like the Chosens, aren't we? This excursion? The fact that we are all women? It's strange..." or

"Well, I'm glad _he's_ protecting us. He's beyond handsome." Anna scoffed at that comment. Handsome just didn't make up for his cold rudeness.

She heard them offend her low status, poverty and lack of proper education on many occasions, but it didn't get get to her. It didn't bother her in least. She comforted herself by thinking that at least, she was nothing like them and she wondered to herself, how they all could ever get grouped together.

She snapped back when she heard one girl say, "I bet she just wants attention from him. It makes complete sense why she's crying. Did you see the way he looked at her? Ugh, I hate people who try to grab onto well-off, handsome men with pity. But he'll never like _her_. She looks as plain as her name sounds"

With speed surprising herself, she punched the girl called Milena with such force that her hand broke, but she didn't cry out like Milena. And the other women instantly backed away, frightened. Then she said with a dead calmness, "I will never love Kratos Aurion. I'm not as materialistic and vain as all of you, and the man I love in the future might not be rich or handsome, but i'll be perfectly content knowing one thing: that he's not Kratos Aurion." She glared the rest of the women down into shame and walked over to the window, and ignoring the pain in her hand, she broke it with a lamp that stood on the table. She escaped into the night and onto the rooftops once more.


	4. The Journey Begun

With his acute angel hearing, Kratos heard shouting at first and thought to himself, it must be completely normal, considering Anna was in that room. But then he heard a cry of pain and the breaking of glass, and he panicked, sprinting to that room in the inn, right next to his. As he opened the door, he saw most of the girls crouching over one who held her nose sobbing. There was blood too and he saw the broken window and cursed to himself. "What the hell happened?" He asked them, frowning as he felt a crease in his forehead deepen. All of the girls looked immediately at him, and the sobbing one answered.

"She broke my nose, because I tried to stop her from escaping." She said with a sickeningly sweet tone. "It hurts!" She cried once more. The girl speaking was definitely pretty though the smug look on her face detracted from her appearance. She had brown hair also like Anna, but her hair was well-kept, every curl perfect and her eyes were black.

"Anna's hand probably hurts too."He groaned, catching the shocked look on the girl's face, and muttered, "She won't be able to fight them like that." Taking some gels from his bag, he threw them towards the crying girl, Milena, who now wore an ugly expression, and pointing to the men who followed Kratos to see what was going on, shouted. "Stay here! You, guard them! I have to find Anna before she gets herself killed." Kratos hated this troublesome woman already and he hated himself for going through so much trouble for one woman; but this could be the Angelus project after all, though he tried not to think about that. He knew how to find her.

-0o0-

Anna crept into the kitchen. It was her favorite place in the whole world. With the smells of wonderful food and basically of her home, she came here whenever she was confused or upset. She loved the sounds of laughter that rang through the kitchen and the daily scenes of the hustle and bustle that moved through those doors. And now that she needed a place to hide, it was perfect. This way, the Desians would never be able to track her family and Kratos would not be able to find her. She hid in one of the secret compartments that only she and her brother knew of as of now. It was a door behind one of the largest cabinets and there was virtually no way to move the cabinet or see the small door. But as Anna crept into the cabinet and ran her fingers along the edge inside the cabinet she felt the latch and pried it open. She was in. After securing the cabinet doors and the door to the secret compartment, she smiled to herself and laughed softly. There was no way she was going. She had a supply of three days food with her and would stay there until Kratos left with his stupid admirers. Then she frowned. She didn't know why she reacted so badly to that last comment. Maybe she just exploded culminating in all of the comments. Who knew? But she knew certainly that she didn't like or trust Kratos Aurion one bit. There was something odd about him, something too good to be true there...

Then she heard it. Footsteps and panting. It was Noishe and Kratos. She cursed to herself. How? Well he was there when she was getting food out from the stash in the secret compartment for her mother and her brother. She heard a deep voice that belonged to Kratos.

"I wonder where ever she could be..."He said in a bored voice, yawning. Then suddenly he shouted incomprehensible words and her compartment exploded sending her backwards as well. Kratos Aurion was upside-down when she opened her eyes after the impact. There were chunks of concrete in her hair and plaster all around her.

"You could have said knocked or something, you know" she grumbled as she straightened herself the right-side-up and brushed the white plaster off of her. She thought she caught the ghost of a smile on his face, but it must not have been there or it couldn't have disappeared so quickly. Kratos now only looked distantly at her offering her his hand, and she ignored it, preferring to stand up on her own free will. She was still angry at Kratos. She saw Noishe gently padding up to her in hopes of food. "Noishe, you traitor, you led him here didn't you?" She scolded at him and the dog-like creature seemed to nod with shame and shove his massive head under her hand for a pat. She sighed and indulged, "Well I can't stay mad at you." She smiled. Then coldly, she turned to Kratos.

"You made a mess of the kitchen," She frowned.

"I will fix it shortly." He replied curtly.

"I'm still not going." Her green eyes turned steely and challenged his. She felt much calmer now and much more sure that she would win this battle. She wouldn't go.

"Yes you are." His eyes matched hers but it didn't seem truly like concern that pushed him to drag her on this expedition. She didn't truly want to leave her family to suffer but also she hesitated. Anna _had_ after all wanted to see the world outside of just Luin. THis could be her one chance to do it. What if she was stuck in Luin forever. Then an idea dawned on her. Maybe she could blackmail him...

"Fine, then, I have one condition." She said.

"You're not really in the position to make conditions. But what exactly would that be?" Kratos asked curiously.

"I need someone to...uh, take care of my family for me." She wouldn't dare meet his eyes. She felt shame and warmth spreading through her ears and cheeks. "They need me. But obviously I wouldn't be able to be here." she muttered, still not meeting his eyes. He was silent and she didn't dare imagine what expression or thoughts crossed his mind. This obviously must have been a strange request. They were complete strangers with one relationship: protector and victim. Why would he, the paid mercenary take care of them? Out of the goodness of his battle-shrunken heart. That was definitely strange, but he needed her to go to complete his job, and she needed someone, anyone to help her family. She was shocked out of her thoughts by his voice.

"Done." he said automatically.

"Done?" Her eyes widened increduously at him in disbelief. "Why?"

"Consider it payment for wrecking the kitchen and your supplies." He said coolly and walked to the door, stopping. "Coming?"

"Yes." She felt surprised and giddy hearing herself say it.

-0o0-

Kratos waited at the lake for the rest of the girls to finish saying their goodbyes. Many of them regarded it as special treatment or a quest or some fun activity, but Anna was by far the most interesting. For her, it was many things. It was departure from the only home she had only known. It was a journey filled with dangers. But most of all for her, it was adventure. Watching her bright eyes anticipate the many places they would cross was amusing. She definitely was not meant to be left in a small town, and after Kratos ensured the well-being of her family, she lightened up and even looked forward to the journey. It was as if some burden that pushed her to a premature old age had been lifted; and she was once more young and lively and animated.

It was nearly noon now and the girls were starting to file in, some crying from having to be separated from their families. Then Anna came bounding down towards the lake. "Bye Derek! Bye Mom!" She shouted cheerfully as she came prancing. The other girls backed away at the sight of her, which greatly amused Kratos. Anna was the thinnest and smallest-framed girl there, but as Kratos came to see, she was the strongest; and he worried at times that she might indeed be the perfect Angelus subject. Milena was the only girl undaunted by Anna. Her previously broken nose seemed only to be able to wrinkle in dismay as if she were smelling something bad. Anna didn't notice.

All eight girls were there now and it was time to leave. They set off from Luin disguised and sneakily, preferring that they not make a scene and invoke the Renegades. Surprisingly, they set off with no problem. But these girls were not fit for travel at all, having to often stop to rest or eat or something else. Thankfully, Kratos and Anna actually interacted very little throughout the first day. The girls would often alternate riding Noishe when they were too tired but it was too risky to stop and rest. Anna rarely or never did, offering her slot to ride Noishe to other girls, whom she quickly befriended.

It was nearing night and Kratos was losing his patience. A few of them would often stick to Kratos and keep asking him questions about his past or his rank or some other virtually useless question. He only grumbled in reply most of the time and thankfully, most were offended that he didn't take to them. Anna didn't notice it at all but seemed to smile much more often as she came to spend time with Rani, one of the girls on the journey. The group set up camp soon as the night became prevalent. Many of the girls had tents and sleeping bags in which they slept. And though Rani offered to share her tent with Anna, Anna only smiled and replied, "No it's okay. I like looking at the stars at night anyways. It helps me sleep." Kratos noted that and almost smiled, thinking about the time he'd seen her fall off a roof and luckily end up basically unscathed. As the girls continued to set up their camps and tents around the fire, he and Anna nearly collided trying to find places in the circle around the fire. Several times they came face-to-face which often ended in awkward encounters and broken conversations like:

"My apologies" Kratos would say stiffly, or "No problem," Anna would say with an equally hollow tone. They ended up on opposite sides of the camp, still however facing each other. Groaning, Kratos gave up and was determine to rest, focusing instead on the stars. Soon, everyone but him was asleep, and he relaxed and closed his eyes. However, he heard Anna shivering. She was covered with a pitifully bare-looking blanket and remained asleep, but Kratos sent Noishe to warm her up and watched her for a while as he saw her smile subconsciously at being covered by Noishe.

-0o0-

The next morning, they set off once more. They were walking still through the forest when Anna happened to appear by Kratos. While the other girls were busy talking, they glanced at each other momentarily before Anna finally cleared her throat and said, "Thank you," her green eyes peering at Kratos at she smirked at him. He raised in eyes at her in confusion.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Yes, he does, doesn't he Noishe?" Anna smirked against as she emphasized 'Noishe' and Kratos realized what she was talking about. She was awake last night.

He only stonily replied, "I don't know what you mean."

"Fine. Play that game." And she walked off still smiling. Odd woman...he thought to himself. If only he knew why he was here.


	5. Uneasy

Anna, despite her mother's own unease, was much warmer towards Kratos since then, genuinely believing that beneath his cold exterior, there lay a heart of gold. Kratos sighed heavily and snapped, his eyes sharp as they discerned a chatty Anna. "Why do you keep talking to me?" He sulked.

Anna asked him more questions than his millions of lifetimes could have supplied sufficient answers to. Because he could not tell her the truth, they were difficult to answer; but he tried to answer as truthfully as possible, so as to not create suspicion also among the rest of the group, who listened intently to his answers. He was a noble from the west, from the largest city that existed, which Anna and the girls assumed was Palmacosta. He had been well-educated and trained as a soldier. This was easy to believe for the Sylvaranti, since Palmacosta had both a reputable academy and a famous Desian-resistant army. But once the questions started getting personal, he tried to cut it off...unsucessfully. The flow of words that came from Anna's mouth seemed never-ending.

Anna scoffed and laughed, "Well, don't flatter yourself, Kratos but believe it or not, you're pretty interesting." She smirked and then seriously added, "That and I don't trust you."

Kratos chuckled. "Then you're the first person in this group with the faintest sense of common sense." Anna raised her eyebrows at the serious tone of these words. They did make her feel as uneasy and suspicious as her mother warned. Anna recalled her conversation with her mother.

-0o0-

Anna's mother smiled gently at Anna's excitement, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes, which were touched with worry. Anna kept chattering on to her mother about all things she would see, things she would do. Granted, the journey was short from Luin to Asgard but still...it was outside Luin, the only world she had known. Up until now, even when her father was still alive, Anna had been denied any chance to leave Luin. She was near the top of her classes, worked two part-time jobs, and practiced her sword-fighting skills with her father. She wasn't bad either at fighting. Though Kratos seemed skeptical at her spatula, Anna bet she could take even him on with her spatula (though she couldn't say since she'd never really seen him fight.) He didn't really look _that_ impressive, she once thought. She knew she was lying to herself. But throughout her life, Anna did everything for her parents and her brother, whom she loved dearly. But she just couldn't help wondering when she could finally do something she wanted to do.

It was her last night at the inn, and all the familiar faces there were sad to see her go, especially for so dangerous a reason, but they were also happy for her. Everyone knew that this was truly what Anna wanted. Still, like her mother, they were skeptical and suspicious of Kratos, though there was no other choice. Anna had just started talking about Kratos, while she was serving everyone in the restaurant. Her mother managed the strength to have dinner with everyone else who loved her, as they had her daughter, and helped her throughout the dinner.

"Yeah, he's definitely a weird dude. He talks like he knows everything and like he's all that! It's infuriating. But still...he is a person. I mean, he can't be all that bad right? Ugh, he's really hard to figure out." Anna frowned as she set down a tray but her eyes stared blankly past her mother and into her thoughts.

"Anna..."her mother said, hesitating, "I think I know where this is going, but I don't like it. I don't trust him. There's something ...wrong. I don't know, but I can feel it. He's dangerous, more dangerous than I think any of us can imagine. Don't get too _close_ to him, darling." Anna's mother looked worriedly at her daughter, a pair of sincere hazel eyes staring up into Anna's green ones. Anna looked back at her mom, serving several other dishes, and laughed at her mother's ridiculous worries.

"Please, mom. I'm curious, not stupid." Anna teased as she whisked past a table.

"Sure, Anna. We all know where this is going." muttered Zak gloomily. He had liked Anna for a while now, but she had her mind set on nothing but adventure. Sure, Anna knew how much he liked her, but she always deflected his affections. If Anna ever fell in love, she was sure it would be with Zak, her childhood best friend. He was warm and loving and selfless. Compared to Anna's own sarcastic and self-defensive self, it was difficult to believe that he liked her. But she was too practical for romances right now, too busy doing things that needed to be done.

"Pfft, not you too!"She scolded, rolling her bright green eyes. Anna placed her hands firmly on her hips. When she finished serving the rest of the dishes on her tray, she stood near the door's entrance where her mother and friend sat. "Don't any of you trust my judge of character? Besides, Zak, I've got someone else in mind," She winked at him as he blushed deeply, looking down. A few moments later, she started talking again. "The idea that I would even get along with that stuffy, arrogant, selfish mercenary is absolutely ridiculous!" Walking backward, she turned suddenly to go to the kitchen and bumped into someone, who apparently had been standing there for a bit.

"Is that so?" Kratos snorted. The chatter in the room stopped instantly, and everything was silent. Anna collided into Kratos, but he didn't move once inch. Her heart jumped and she gasped in shock as she gaped up at the mercenary's lifeless face.

"Where did you come from anyways?" She yelped, trying to catch her breath at the same time.

"From outside the door, and I was merely passing when I heard you." Kratos glanced at her. "Feel whatever you want. It does not affect me." Then he walked past as he claimed he had intended and disappeared beyond the door across the room. The laughter and the talking in the room began again.

"Holy Martel! Do you see what I mean?" She looked to her mother and to Zak, her eyes wide open and her hands gesturing to where Kratos left. "What does that even mean? He speaks so archaicly...'Is that so?'" Anna mocked Kratos as she wiped down a now empty table, wiping it faster and faster as she grumbled to herself. Someone laughed.

"She's got it bad." said a regular customer grinning at Anna, her mother and Zak.

-0o0-


	6. Rest

The group stopped soon at a nearby lake to rest. Kratos was blind to their pleas that they all needed a good rest.

One of the girls, Deanna, had nearly fainted from hunger, while Cacey complained about her feet hurting and Hera about exhaustion. But they trotted on and on and on, for what seemed like days now to everyone.

"Kratos, we haven't even stopped for almost a day now," pouted Odelia, her voice wavering as she looked up longingly in to his eyes. Her once lustrous blond hair was indeed dirty now and lost its piercing shine.

His face remained impassive. He turned for a quick second to stare dully into her eyes as he replied, "Asgard is not far." But soon, he turned back again as if the conversation had never even taken place, one hand resting on his sword as it always had. Another girl quickened her pace to fall in step with Kratos and avoid lagging behind.

"But we're all tired and hungry." squeaked Milena. She tried gingerly to place her hand on his arm, but Kratos seemed to cringe at her touch; and he quickly removed his arm from her grasp.

Anna stifled a laugh at Kratos's reaction but she too was tired. Her breaths seemed to move only with great effort, and her feet, like unbearable weights, were even harder to move. But she absolutely refused to give in or to complain. After all, she had already bet Kratos that she could last the journey at the pace that Kratos would normally travel without complaining. She groaned. Why did she do that? Why was she so stupidly stubborn?

"We must reach Asgard as soon as possible." Kratos addressed Milena after a moment's silence. He knew this, and it had nothing to do with Anna's silly gamble, which only helped along the process. He needed to take them to Asgard quickly before he changed his mind. Spending time with humans who could cry, laugh, feel pain and feel joy made him...sympathetic. He didn't want to change his mind.

On the side, Anna and Rani sighed in unison, glancing at the unfazed Kratos. Then Rani lit up with a smile and whispered, "Anna, you try! Kratos likes you way better than anyone else." Anna glared at her hard.

"No, it'll only irritate his condition," she joked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Besides, that's not true. Maybe if everyone tried to talk to him like he was a human and not some sort of God, you might be able to get some sort of emotion out of him."

"Then why don't you try it? I know you're just as tired as the rest of us. What, are you scared or something?" Rani teased. "I bet you're just scared that he might like you."

Anna snorted and looking intently at the red-haired girl, replied haughtily, "I am not! I made a bet and I'm not losing. Besides I don't care about that anyways."

"Well, what's the harm? Come on, Anna, if this is about your bet, then it's getting ridiculous. And you're the only one who hasn't tried asking him to stop. Look-" Rani directed her stares to her blistering feet, which were starting to bleed.

"Rani! Why didn't you tell Kratos?" Anna looked shocked and stopped her friend, grabbing her arm. Anna stared sternly into Rani's brown eyes with concern.

Rani only laughed nervously and tucked her short hair behind her hair. "uhhh...he scares me. Heh. Please, Anna..." They were silent. A bet was not worth the well-being of her friend. Anna knew it was time to give in.

"Ugh fine, but you need to do something about this when we stop." They started walking again to keep up. Rani looked ecstatic and Anna annoyed as she marched through the grass and twigs up to an oblivious Kratos.

Tapping on Kratos's shoulder, Anna sighed and refusing to look into his eyes, walked next to him. "Kratos, we need to stop now. I give up, okay? You win." Anna, looking up briefly for a reply, groaned at his amused expression dancing in his eyes. "We're dropping like flies here and some of us are injured pretty bad from walking for so long."

"That does not concern me. If you were listening to what I had said to everyone else, then you would know that we cannot risk stopping now."

"If you were listening to _me_, you would realize that people here are injured, so we need to stop. Plus we're all exhausted. Please-"

"We are not stopping. Asgard is not far-"

"WOULD YOU LISTEN, YOU SELF-IMPORTANT JERK?!" Everyone became silent and turned their attention to Kratos and Anna, uncomfortably. "Isn't your job to protect us? I have no idea how pushing us like this is protection. I don't even know why you're rushing so much, like you're scared you can't protect us if we get ambushed or something!"

Everyone looked shocked, their mouths falling open at Anna's bold words and Kratos looked infuriated, hand clenched tightly. "It has nothing to do with-"

He started to lash out angrily, but Anna wasn't done.

"We haven't had so much as a brief break or two since we left, and it's been two days! I don't know what you're doing or what everyone else is doing, but I am exhausted and I am stopping, regardless of whether you are or not."

With that Anna half-sat, half-collapsed on a nearby rock, finally realizing exactly how tired she was and relishing in the break a few seconds gave her. A few of the girls slowly started to join her and laughed along with her, enjoying the break. Kratos looked at her with pity and a bit of concern at the state of her exhaustion. After all, Anna probably suffered the most in the group, not having ever sat on Noishe when she became tired.

"Humph, fine." Kratos resigned darkly, "Since it seems I can't do anything about this anyways." He grumbled but also took a seat nearby, although he was not tired.

Rani walked over quietly to Anna and giggled, "Hehe! I knew you could do it!"

Smiling Anna responded, "Yeah, turns out all Kratos needed was a good yelling." They laughed together at remembering Kratos's flustered face and relished in the beauty of the day. The sun was shining, bright and warm, with just the perfect amount of clouds overhead. The day was absolutely beautiful. Anna couldn't have picked a better day to stop and rest against the coolness of the green leaves and fresh ripples of the running stream. All of the girls were enjoying themselves and healing at a remarkable rate. Rani's feet no longer bled with the aid of gels, rest and sunshine.

Rani's laugh tinkled through the clear air as she said, "Come on, Anna!" They danced through the forest, climbing trees, swinging on vines, and splashing each other in the streams. Even Noishe joined in but eventually figured out that he could not climb trees and sat waiting for Anna disappointed. Most of the time he accompanied Kratos who merely rested in the shade the whole time obviously displeased.

The usual trio of Kratos's string of admirers crowded him: Cacey, Odelia and Milena. Of course the other girls were also completely infatuated with the handsome mercenary but preferred to admire him from a distance, gossiping. And from time to time, Anna was ashamed to admit that she couldn't help noticing that he was handsome either. Of course, she didn't like him like that, but beauty could certainly be admired and not loved. And Kratos Aurion, in all his mystery, was handsome. His sharp, incomprehensible eyes brought a certain kind of elegance to his already handsome face, and his reddish hair, though dulled in color by the hurried journey, still looked as sharp as his sword yet soft as the leaves on which Anna's hand rested on. Somehow, she thought his personality was the same. it was piercing, unrefined and abrasive, but soft, kind and free of any ill will. He was human and she was glad to know it.

It was nighttime now. They'd rested the day away but it greatly lifted their spirits. All of the girls were sitting around the campfire with Noishe as their guard as Kratos left to hunt for food. They engaged in a conversation about Kratos.

"I like Kratos. He's so mysterious and handsome, like those heroes you read about," sighed Tori, "He's so dreamy." The other girls giggled.

"I think he must be good, since he's stopping the Desians and helping us." said Rani plainly. Anna smiled. Rani was so good and pure. She could tell Kratos softened his attitude towards the gentle girl as well, though he never admitted it or tried to show it.

"I think so too, the way he's protecting all of us is sooo romantic," said Hera. _He hasn't really_, thought Anna dully as she scoffed.

"Yeah I even got him to talk to me for once!" cried Milena.

"What'd he say?!" said the other girls in unison.

Milena cleared her throat as if she were announcing the most important thing. "He said 'Get some rest. It'll be better for your journey tomorrow.'" Milena's face distorted into something between pure happiness and smugness.

"Oh. My. God." said Odelia, nearly fainting.

"I know! it's so exciting!" said Deanna.

"I wonder what it would be like to be Mrs. Aurion." sighed Milena dreamily. Anna nearly threw up and turned to Rani, making a gagging gesture. _What unfortunate woman would be in that place?_ snorted Anna in her mind. Just because she sympathized with Kratos, she still didn't have to like him, though she often went back and forth, changing her mind. Anna tried to ignore the conversation and focused her attention instead on the log she was sitting on. Anna listlessly traced the patterns of the log with her finger, feeling all the creases and grooves in it and forgetting the conversation for only a moment.

"You're sooo lucky! The only other person he talks to is Anna." Milena made a face and sneered at the comment, obviously disgruntled by the fact that this was true. Anna looked up startled and caught herself from nearly falling over.

"Oh, Anna, you've been quiet! What do you think about Kratos?"

Anna opened her mouth but heard footsteps approaching, and her unformed words immediately shifted into a "Shhhh! He's coming." Anna felt relieved. She really had no idea what she would say about Kratos and gladly welcomed the interruption. Sure enough, after a few minutes passed, Kratos arrived with game looking flustered and unusually red. If she didn't know better, she would say that he heard every word they said. But that was impossible for a human.


End file.
